STOCKTON - Collena Allen, 26, is fixing Thanksgiving dinner for as many people as possible at the residential hotel she calls home.

Thirty-six-year-old Lenora Doss is going to cook a turkey, with all the trimmings, for her husband and four children.

Marion Jones, 83, for the third year in a row, is grateful for the holiday meal provided by Stockton's Emergency Food Bank. "Otherwise, I'd been sitting home with nothing."

They and more than 2,500 others can thank generous donors and an army of volunteers who spent Monday meeting the "overwhelming need" of the city's hungry and homeless.

Since 1986, the Food Bank has handed out free turkey dinners. Human drama engulfed 7 W. Scotts Ave. and the surrounding south Stockton neighborhood for six hours Monday.

The line started forming at 10 a.m. Sunday. By dawn Monday, hundreds of people were waiting.

William Ellington, a 32-year-old unemployed Stagg High School graduate, arrived at 6 a.m. He is Allen's fiance. His Thanksgiving Day job at the residential hotel occupied by those receiving general assistance is to keep them entertained while Allen prepares the food.

"I don't want anybody in my kitchen," says Allen, who moved to Stockton three years ago. "I love to cook. I'm in line because I want to make a big meal for everybody. I'm hoping to feed at least 15 or 20."

Those in line around her were using shopping carts, laundry baskets, baby strollers, wheelchairs and backpacks - anything they could - to help them carry away the donated food.

"There's nothing as rewarding as this," says first-time volunteer Katie Marsella, a 27-year-old St. Mary's High School graduate. "I've been blessed my whole life, but this town is really struggling.

"This is organized to meet the overwhelming need. The people are very thankful and grateful. They're so nice and genuine."

Marsella used Facebook to raise money for the Food Bank's big day, following the lead of family friend Sonia Langford.

"I started crying when I saw the line this morning," says Langford, who is 53 and a lifelong Stockton resident. "I eat when I want. My kids have everything they need, so I decided to reach out on Facebook. And it snowballed."

This is her second year as a volunteer.

In addition to helping raise more than $11,000 for the turkey outreach, Langford recruited a dozen of her family and friends to help out. "I am humbled that we're able to do this. "

She isn't the only one to get emotional.

Rebeca Knodt, born and raised in Lima, Peru, has been in Stockton for 25 years. She is the new executive director of the Emergency Food Bank and no stranger to helping others.

Monday was her first turkey giveaway.

"We've had amazing community support," Knodt says. "People have called and asked, 'How can I help?' and 'What do you need?' "

Knodt, 54, known for her involvement in the medical field and as 20-year board member for Su Salud, stood midmorning surveying the long line of people still waiting patiently, smiling broadly and looking forward to receiving what they cannot afford.

"I am so fortunate," Knodt says, "to be involved in helping others. It takes an army of people to accomplish this mission. It was so heartwarming, over the weekend in the pouring rain and wind and cold, to see people lined up to make contributions to RTD's Stuff the Bus."

By the end of the day, everyone who got in line received a Thanksgiving meal. "We had enough for everybody," Knodt says.